MORTAR FIRE • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Mortar fire

... the 21st, 22d, and 23d with undiminished vigor, but without noteworthy incident in the fleet. The testimony of the Confederate officers, alike in the forts and afloat, is unanimous as to the singular accuracy of the mortar fire. A large proportion of the shells fell within the walls of Jackson. The damage done to the masonry was not irreparable, but the quarters and citadel, as already stated, were burned down and the magazine endangered. The garrison ...

— The Gulf and Inland Waters - The Navy in the Civil War. Volume 3. • A. T. Mahan